Pocket gopher trap

ABSTRACT

A trap for pocket gophers comprises a tube, with a flattened top wall. Inside the tube adjacent one end is a swinging door pivoted to the tube so it can swing up close to the top wall of the tube. The tube has stop means to keep the door from moving out of the tube when it swings down to block the tube. At the other end the tube has an apertured closure that is mounted to slide a short distance in the tube. A trip rod is fixed to the closure at the top of the closure and is slidably suspended from the tube top. The swinging door receives the adjacent end of the rod beneath it to hold the door up when the closure is at its limit of sliding movement toward the door. The rod projects from the closure and can be observed outside the tube as an indicator of whether the door is held up by the rod or is swung down.

United States Patent [1 1 Vavrick [451 Jan. 28, 1975 [22] Filed:

[ POCKET GOPHER TRAP June 6, 1973 21 Appl. No.1 367,547

FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 778,592 Great Britain 43/61 Primary E.ran1inerLouis G. Mancene Assistant E.\'uminerDaniel .l. Leach Attorney. Agent, 0) FirmWells. St. John, & Roberts 157] ABSTRACT A trap for pocket gophers comprises a tube, with a flattened top wall. Inside the tube adjacent one end is a swinging door pivoted to the tube so it can swing up close to the top wall of the tube. The tube has stop means to keep the door from moving out of the tube when it swings down to block the tube. At the other end the tube has an apertured closure that is mounted to slide a short distance in the tube. A trip rod is fixed to the closure at the top of the closure and is slidably suspended from the tube top. The swinging door receives the adjacent end of the rod beneath it to hold the door up when the closure is at its limit of sliding movement toward the door. The rod projects from the closure and can be observed outside the tube as an indicator of whether the door is held up by the rod or is swung down.

2 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures PATENTEB JAN 2 8 I975 FIC51 POCKET GOPHER TRAP BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION U.S. PATENTS Clapp No. Tremble No. Boynton No. Sloulin No. Ford Slauth No. Rudolph No.

The pocket gopher normally has an entrance to his burrow that is evidenced by an exposed mound of loose dirt but there is no direct open entrance through this dirt from the top to the burrow. When the gopher is in the burrow, the gopher always closes this entrance opening by moving dirt from within the burrow to the entrance until it is closed off. The present invention takes advantage of this instinct of 'the gopher to trap him.

In the prior patents there are several examples of trap doors which the rodent or other animal must release to get bait. For example, in the Tremble patent a spring closed door 8 is released by a trigger 21 on the rod 19 when this rod is lifted by the animals body as the animal reaches for the bait.

In the Clapp patent, the animal in reaching for the bait, displaces a trigger rod from the member 20 on the door 21 which opens by swinging inward and this allows the door to swing down and outward to close the trap.

The Boynton patent also uses a trigger rod 17 to hold a door 15 raised against the rounded top of a shell 11 that is hinged on a base 10. The trigger rod 18 is moved out of door holding position by the trigger 19 which depends into the shell 11 and is guided fore and aft by a guide 20. The shell 11 has cross bars 14 fixed across the end opposite the door 15.

The Sloulin patent uses a housing made up of four flat sides that are separably secured to each other to form a rectangular tube one end of which is closed by a door 17 hinged at its lower end to the bottom side and held closed at the top by a hook spring 19. The other end of the tube has a spring closed door 20 that swings in and up to open. A trip rod 25 slides along the top side of the tube through a guide 27 to extend under the free end of the door 20. The rod 25 is moved endwise by a bait holder 28.

The Ford patent shows an attachment 2 for a tin can C. The attachment includes a door 9 that is normally held up outside the can by a trigger 22 on a rod 19. A spring will swing the door 9 down when the rod is pulled down by an animal grasping the bait B.

The Slauth patent has a tube 10 closed at one end by a fixed perforated closure 12. A trip rod 48 has a panel 56 inside the tube 10 and about midway between the ends of the tube. A hinged closure 16 at the other end of the tube is spring closed and carries a member 28 to secure it against reopening by seating in a seat 24. The rod 48 has an upwardly bent tip 46 to engage a tongue 42 on the closure 16.

The Rudolph patent works essentially like the Slauth patent but has a rear gate 66 which can be opened manually to insert a bait 64 behind the trigger 34, that moves the trip rod 42 to release its end 60 from a portion 60 on the arm 56.

In the present device, it simply comprises three basic parts, a tube and two movable doors arranged with a trigger rod so that the gopher in the burrow is presented with openings through the mound of earth through which he can see light. He endeavors to seal off these openings by clawing dirt from the tube toward the light to again seal off the burrow outlet through the mound. The present invention utilizes this action of the pocket gopher to trap him.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The invention provides a tube with a flattened top wall and a rounded bottom wall on which loose dirt is carried with one end closure having a plurality of light apertures therein mounted for limited sliding movement within the tube. Another end closure for the tube is hinged thereto adjacent the other end of the tube to swing inward from a position closing said other end but stopped by the tube from swinging outward from the tube. The sliding closure has a trip rod rigidly affixed thereto with one end of the rod exposed to view outwardly of the closure and the other end terminating inwardly of the hinged closure but in position to support the hinged closure when the closures are moved toward I each other and the hinged closure is swung inwardly to parallel the flattened top of the tube. The flattened top of the tube has spaced supports slidably mounting the rod.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view through the trap taken substantially on the line 11 of FIG. 3 showing the closures in set position.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view on the same line as FIG. 1 showing the closures in tripped position.

FIG. 3 is an end view looking at FIG. 1 from the left.

FIG. 4 is an end view of the trap looking at FIG. 2 from the right.

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 55 of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary enlarged sectional view taken on the line 66 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary enlarged sectional view taken on the line 77 of FIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring now to the drawings, this trap for pocket gophers preferably is embodied in three basic parts, the first of which is a tube 1 of suitable material such as sheet steel. The tube 1 has a flattened top wall 2 and a rounded, semicylindrical bottom wall 3 with relatively flat side walls 4 and 5 connecting the walls 2 and 3. The second part is located within the tube 1 and comprises an apertured end closure 6 mounted for limited endwise movement between an upturned stop 7 struck up from the bottom wall 3 and a downwardly struck loop 8 at the end of the top wall 2.

The loop 8 and a similar loop 9 near the other end of the tube 1 provide guides and supports for a trip rod 10 that is rigidly affixed as by welding to the end closure 6.

The stop 7 limits the movement of the closure 6 in one direction and the loop 8 limits the movement of the closure 6 in the otherdirection.

The end of the tube 1 remote from the closure 6 is provided with a swinging closure 11 which comprises the third part of my trap and is held inside the tube 1 and hinged on a rolled edge 12 that is located near the top wall 2 in recesses 13 and 14 that are formed in the side walls 4 and 5. The lower edge of the closure 11 has a flange 15 extended toward the adjacent open end of the tube 1. This flange is provided with a slot 16. The free end of the trip rod is extended into this slot when the closure 11 is swung inward and upward about the rolled edge 12 against the flat top wall 2 and the closure 6 is pushed toward the closure 11 against the stop 7. This is the set" position of the trap as illustrated in FIG. 1 of the drawings. When the closure 6 is moved out to the position shown in F IG. 2, the trip rod free end is moved out of the slot 16 to let the closure 11 drop down against a stop 17 struck up from the bottom wall 3 of the tube 1.

The trip rod has an extension 10a which serves the user of the trap as an indicator to tell whether the trap has been activated. If the rod extension 10a projects out as shown in FIG. 2, the trap user knows that the trap has been activated.

To set the trap, the user need only to elevate the end of the tube so that the swinging closure 11 opens and lays against the top wall 2. He may then tip the tube downwardly sliding the free end of trip rod 10 into the slot 16. It may thus be understood that setting the trap is an extremely simple operation and may be completed using only one hand.

In using the trap, the mound of dirt that indicates the presence of a pocket gopher is removed to the extent necessary to uncover the burrow passage leading horizontally away from the mound. The trap is set and inserted into the passage at least far enough to prevent light from entering the passage around the trap. The mid-portion of the trap can be covered with dirt but the end having the closure 6 must be open to light. Also the mid-portion of the tube needs to have therein the soil indicated in FIGS. 1 and 2 and so labeled. The user can inspect the trap anytime without disturbing it merely by observing whether the end 10a of the trip rod 10 is extended out beyond the end of the tube 10 as shown in FIGS. 2 and 3. If an animal has pushed the closure 6 outward by using the soil or otherwise it should be trapped in the tube 1 between the closures 6 and 11. No bait of any kind is needed in the trap.

As may be noted above, the trap is constructed of three separate parts. By so constructing my trap, I have reduced manufacturing cost to a minimum while substantially increasing the useful life of the trap over prior traps utilizing more complex tripping and capture mechanisms.

The invention in which an exclusive right is claimed is defined in the following claims:

1. A trap for pocket gophers comprising:

an elongated metal tube having a flattened top wall,

a rounded bottom wall and flat side walls connecting the top and bottom walls, the tube being at least as wide at the top of the side walls as at any level therebelow;

an apertured end closure metal plate fitting closely to the inside surface of the tube in one end thereof and having a plurality of small apertures therein;

the said end closure plate slidably supported by the tube for limited sliding movement lengthwise of the tube;

a stop loop in the top wall between the top of the closure plate and the adjacent end of the top wall;

an upstanding stop on the bottom wall of the tube and spaced inwardly of the tube toward the center thereof whereby to provide space for the limited sliding movement of the plate in the tube;

a swinging closure metal plate suspended within the tube at its other end and hinged at its top edge to the tube in juxtaposition to the flattened top wall;

a stop member on the bottom wall of the tube at its said other end, positioned within the path of the swinging closure plate and preventing swinging movement of the swinging closure plate out of the tube; and

a trip rod rigidly secured to the first named end closure plate said rod extending lengthwise of the tube immediately below the flattened top wall and slidably carried by said top wall;

said trip rod extending into the path of the swinging closure plate when the first named end closure plate is positioned against said upstanding stop;

said rod extending out of the path of the swinging closure plate when the first named closure plate is positioned against the stop loop.

2. The device defined in claim 1 wherein the trip rod has a portion overlying and slidable on the stop loop outside of the tube providing a visible indicator of the endwise position of the trip rod with respect to the tube. 

1. A trap for pocket gophers comprising: an elongated metal tube having a flattened top wall, a rounded bottom wall and flat side walls connecting the top and bottom walls, the tube being at least as wide at the top of the side walls as at any level therebelow; an apertured end closure metal plate fitting closely to the inside surface of the tube in one end thereof and having a plurality of small apertures therein; the said end closure plate slidably supported by the tube for limited sliding movement lengthwise of the tube; a stop loop in the top wall between the top of the closure plate and the adjacent end of the top wall; an upstanding stop on the bottom wall of the tube and spaced inwardly of the tube toward the center thereof whereby to provide space for the limited sliding movement of the plate in the tube; a swinging closure metal plate suspended within the tube at its other end and hinged at its top edge to the tube in juxtaposition to the flattened top wall; a stop member on the bottom wall of the tube at its said other end, positioned within the path of the swinging closure plate and preventing swinging movement of the swinging closure plate out of the tube; and a trip rod rigidly secured to the first named end closure plate said rod extending lengthwise of the tube immediately below the flattened top wall and slidably carried by said top wall; said trip rod extending into the path of the swinging closure plate when the first named end closure plate Is positioned against said upstanding stop; said rod extending out of the path of the swinging closure plate when the first named closure plate is positioned against the stop loop.
 2. The device defined in claim 1 wherein the trip rod has a portion overlying and slidable on the stop loop outside of the tube providing a visible indicator of the endwise position of the trip rod with respect to the tube. 